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Wyoming at Hawaii – pregame reading

Some notes and quotes for Wyoming’s football game tonight at Hawaii. Kick off is at 10 p.m. MT (6 p.m. in Honolulu. There is no regular TV coverage for us not in Hawaii. You can watch the game on a phone or tablet using the Stadium app, which is a free download. Here is a link in how to do that — if you haven’t already.

— “Your time table gets changed. Young people probably adapt better than coaches. You’re dealing with a four-hour time change. Getting players acclimated to a big time change is a challenge.” — fifth-year UW coach Craig Bohl

See Saturday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang for my story on not just the time change, but other challenges UW and other teams face when having to travel to Hawaii to play football.

— Hawaii is the fourth team UW will play this season that is ranked in the top 10 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing offense. The Rainbow Warriors enter the game sixth. Washington State is first, Boise State is fourth and Missouri is seventh. UW is 0-3 and gave up 115 points in those previous games.

— “We need to be consistent. We are capable of being an explosive offense, but we shoot ourselves in the foot on second down or are inefficient on first down and we’re not on schedule for third down. We need to be more consistent, not take plays off and not shoot ourselves in the foot.” — UW senior running back Nico Evans.

— The Cowboys are averaging just over 18 points per game this season, and converting just 31 percent on third down. Those stats rank last in the Mountain West.

— UW leads the series with Hawaii 14-9, and are 7-6 on the road. Today will be only the Cowboys’ third game in Honolulu since 1997. They lost the last time they were there, 38-28, in 2014. Hawaii seeks its 200th win at Aloha Stadium tonight.

— “After these losses, we have a chip back on our shoulders, and we started practicing like that this week. We need to forget about what other people hold us to, or even what we hold ourselves to. We need to play fast and play together. Work on playing with some swagger this week and just have fun playing the game that we love.” — UW junior outside linebacker Cassh Maluia

— Senior safeties Andrew Wingard and Marcus Epps enter the game with nine career interceptions apiece, which is tied for the fourth-most in school history. If and when they get to 10, they will tie Mark Thomas (1983-86) for third. UW’s school record doesn’t appear to be in jeopardy. That mark is held by safety Brian Lee (1994-97) with 17.

Paniolo Trophy

— This is the first of three games for UW this season with a traveling trophy on the line. UW and Hawaii play for the Paniolo Trophy, and the Cowboys have it in their possession after their 28-21 overtime victory last season in Laramie. Paniolo is a Hawaiian word meaning “cowboy.” The trophy was introduced in 1979. UW also has the other two traveling trophies in its possession — Bridger’s Rifle associated with Utah State and the Bronze Boot with Colorado State. Those games this season will be played Oct. 20 and Oct 26, respectively.

— “The biggest thing is to tone out all the outside noise and do what we do. We can’t let everyone else’s expectations effect how we play.” — Epps